During a recession we tend to seek higher-calorie foods that will keep us satisfied for longer

Many of us find ourselves comfort eating at times of crisis or depression. But new research suggests this even extends to times of economic hardship.

Scientists at the University of Miami have found that bad news about the economy could cause us to pack on the pounds.

That's because we tend to seek higher-calorie foods that will keep us satisfied for longer.

The research, published in Psychological Science, found when people were subconsciously primed with messages such as 'live for today,' they consumed nearly 40 per cent more food than compared to a control group primed with neutral words.

Furthermore, when volunteers were given messages indicating times were hard - but then told the food they were sampling was
low-calorie, they ate roughly 25 per cent less food.

The researchers say this is because if we perceive food resources are scarce, we actively seek out food with a higher calorie content.

'It is clear from the studies that taste was not what caused the reactions, it was a longing for calories,' said lead reseacher Juliano Laran, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Miami School of Business Administration,

He added that even listening to depressing news stories could have the same effect.

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Speaking about the economic situation in the U.S., he said: 'The findings of this study come at a time when our country is slowly recovering from the onslaught of negative presidential campaign ads chalked with topics such as the weak economy, gun violence, war, deep political divides, just to name a few problem areas.

2,500 NEW MCJOBS ON THE WAY

McDonald's is set to create at least 2,500 new jobs over the course of this year, taking its workforce in the UK to 93,500.

The fast food giant's announcement comes after the firm created 3,500 jobs in 2012, growing by more than 20,000 over five years.

McDonald's
said its growth was the fruit of investing in new technology as well as
extending opening hours and menu choice in its 1,200 UK restaurants.

jill
McDonald, chief executive of McDonald's UK, said: 'These remain
challenging economic conditions but I'm pleased that, together with our
franchisees, our continued focus on serving quality, affordable food and
giving our customers a great experience is enabling us to keep
investing in our business and creating jobs.'

'Now that we know this sort of messaging causes people to seek out more calories out of a survival instinct, it would be wise for those looking to kick off a healthier new year to tune out news for a while.'

Several studies were conducted as part of the research. In the first one, the researchers invited volunteers to join in a taste test for a new kind of M&M sweet.

Half the participants were given a bowl of the new type of sweet and were told the secret ingredient was a new, high-calorie chocolate.

The other group was given a bowl of M&Ms but were told the new chocolate was low-calorie.

Everyone was told they could sample each product in order to complete a taste test evaluation form.

In reality, there was no difference in the M&Ms that the two groups were given to taste.

The researchers were actually measuring how much people ate after they were exposed to posterscontaining either neutral sentences or sentences related to struggle and adversity.

Those who were subconsciously primed to think about struggle and adversity ate closer to 70 per cent more of the supposedly 'higher-calorie' chocolate.

Those primed with neutral words didn't eat a significantly different quantity.